Sunflower Garden Update #1

I thought I'd better go ahead and post the first update on our sunflowers since they are getting bigger- just more leaves than what you see here and a bit taller, but nothing huge is happening yet. However, the big news is they are growing!

The were watching starting later in the week after we planted the seeds and woohoo we see seed leaves!

This pansy in the mailbox planter is quite possibly the only Mother's Day plant from the church windowsill ever to survive coming home with us. It was almost done when we finally were able to plant it and now it's flowering everywhere. This is nothing compared to what it looks like now.

It's hard to see here, but if you click the photo you'll see some cotyledons and a few with the seed case still on. It's been fun to take a look each day to see how many have come up.

So far, so good! I think it's going to be great to see how the varieties look together. Oh yes...I promised you all a list of the seeds we planted. Here we go:

• Mammoth Grey Stripe Sunflowers- the one to grow if you want to eat the seeds. They grow 6 to 12 feet tall and ours are at the back of the garden at the arch's peak. (120 days which means I'm not sure we'll get seeds to harvest before it's too late)
• Soraya Sunflower- this one has orange petals and a deep mahogany center. The sturdy branching means it produces up to 25 4 to 6 inch blooms per plant. This ones going to spread so although the garden looks sparse now...it will fill up. (80 Days)
• Royal Hybrid 1121 F1 Sunflower- is a high yielding, early sunflower for delicious, edible seeds and bird food. It gets 7 feet or more and a flower diameter of 8". (110 Days)
• Moulin Rouge Sunflower- a favorite for its color. These are dark red pollen-free blossoms which are somewhat short lived. It will grow to be 5-6' tall. (65 Days)
• Pro-Cut Lemon Sunflower- This one was bred for professional cutflower farmers, but it's great for anyone who likes splashy bouquets. The 3-4" flowers have lemon yellow petals and grow to be 5' tall. (55 Days)

We have the seeds for three more types- Autumn Beauty Mix, Hope Dye Sunflowers, and there was a seed mix with all kinds of surprises inside. We didn't have enough room to try them all although I think our garden designer could have diversified more. Perhaps next time, I'll have to keep better track! I would have loved the autumn mix. With a growing season of 70-90 days maybe I'll just get them in the ground!